SA buyers are showing an increased appetite for new-energy vehicles (NEVs) which include petrol-electric hybrids and full-electric vehicles (EVs).
According to motor industry body Naamsa, 2,689 new NEVs were sold between January and August this year, a more than 1,000% increase over the 242 units sold over the same period last year, though still representing just 0.9% of total new-vehicle sales.
Online motoring sales portal Cars.co.za, which attracts about 2-million unique users a month, also reports a significant increase in consumer interest in electrified cars.
“The demand for used hybrid or full-electric vehicles on our site outstrips supply,” says Hannes Oosthuizen, consumer experience manager at Cars.co.za.
“Finding a pre-owned BMW i3, for example, is no simple task and, when you do find one, expect to pay a premium.
“When we compared data from the first six months of 2022 with that of the corresponding period in 2021, we discovered that demand for hybrids went up by 67.7% year on year while demand for full EVs increased by a staggering 155.5%,” Oosthuizen says.
“It is worth keeping in mind, however, that these increases come off a relatively small base,” he adds.
The demand is also stimulated by supply as a result of greater product availability. A number of brands including Audi, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz launched EVs in the country in the past 12 months.
The introduction of a number of hybrids by SA’s most popular brand, Toyota, in particular, drove up interest to some extent.
“We have seen tremendous interest in the new hybrid models of Haval as well. Interestingly, when it comes to this Chinese brand in general, we have seen a demand increase of 367.7% year on year, indicating that there is far more demand relative to stock availability,” says Oosthuizen.
“Another important factor to keep in mind is the rapid increase in the price of fuel, and the fact that fewer turbodiesel models are being introduced — particularly at the affordable end of the market.
“Of course, we’re still waiting for the arrival of truly affordable EVs in the new-vehicle market, but when we analyse the behaviour of our site visitors who put through enquiries (on any vehicles), we find those people are increasingly researching hybrids and EVs in their purchasing journeys.
“This is a clear indication that consumers who are genuinely in the market for a new car, are considering new-energy vehicles much more strongly than before,” he concludes.
While consumer interest in electrified cars is growing, the fact that EVs are significantly more expensive than internal combustion engined (ICE) cars still keeps the masses away and there is growing pressure on government to stimulate local NEV sales through subsidies or reduced import duties.
Mikel Mabasa, CEO of Naamsa, is pushing government to finalise a policy on the future of NEVs so that SA’s automotive manufacturing industry doesn’t fall behind global trends. With the world moving to EVs and a number of countries set to ban the sale of ICE vehicles soon, the combustion-engined vehicles produced in SA would run out of export markets, with about 64% of production going overseas.
Government has dithered on implementing a policy after trade & industry minister Ebrahim Patel committed to the advancement of NEVs with a green paper entitled “The SA Road to Production of Electric Vehicles” in May 2021. The aim is to ensure the long-term survival of the local automotive industry by transitioning it from the ICE into the electric era. It includes possible tax and cashback incentives offered to local EV buyers as in many other countries, which could reduce the price gap between EV and ICE cars.
Expensive EV prices are largely due to the high cost of batteries and punitive import duties, with EVs attracting up to a 25% duty in SA compared to as little as 18% for ICE cars.
Since launching the Corolla Cross range late last year, Toyota SA has pre-emptively subsidised the price of the hybrid versions on the expectation that government would offer rebates on NEVs, but more than a year later, there is still no published policy.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.